Machine and method for rolling conical tips on lacings



G. G. PERKINS. MACHINE AND METHOD FOR ROLLING CONICA-L TIPS 0N LACINGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22,' I919.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 47 fiwewior Geo. G1 9 7% 25 08 f izarfi/e ys a. e. PERKINS. MACHINE AND METHOD FOR ROLLING CONICAL TLPS 0N LACINGS. APPLICATION FILED APR.22 1919..

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- $2 Z 077019 ya UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE G. PERKINS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

' MACHINE AND METHOD FOR ROLLING CONICAL TIPS ON LAGINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

Application filed April 22, 1919. Serial No. 291,808.

To ZZ to 7mm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Gnonon G. PERKINS, a ci izen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines and Methods for Rolling Conical Tips on Lacings, of which the following is a specification.

It is the purpose of the present invention to produce lacings for various purposes having tapered ends or tips formed by binders of metal, or equivalent material which is sufiiciently stiff to maintain its form under ordinary conditions of use. The lacings provided with such tips are commonly made of webbing or cord; usually formed of strands braided together, and the hinder or tip piece at the end is provided in order to prevent the strands from raveling at the ends, thereby enabling the lacings to be easily threaded through eyelets and other small holes in which they have to be placed, and gii'e apleasing finished appearance. Such lacings are used with shoes, corsets, leggings and various other garments and articles in order to draw together and hold parts of the garment or article at opposite sides of an opening therein. Conical tips are preferable to the common and more generally used straight tips (by which I mean those in which the width or diameter is uniform) iecause they are smaller at the extremity and therefore more easily entered into a small opening, and they have a more pleasing appearance, which makes them more desirable to purchasers.

I am awre that heretofore lacings have been produced having conical tips formed by metal binders which surround and are press-ed upon the ends of the lacing cord, or web; but I also know that the methods heretofore in use for forming them are slow and expensive, and l volve severe and exhaust-- ing muscular effort on the part of the persons employed in making them. My object is to enable such tips to be made in such manner as to relieve the operators of severe labor, and at the same time to make them wit. a better finish and more rapidly and less expense than is possible with the methods and apparatus heretofore in use. The invention therefore consists in improved instrumentalities for applying the binding pieces to the lacing ends and thus forming the tips, in method of procedure in the practice of which such instrumentalities are used, and in a form of blank to be applied by and in accordance with such instrumentalities and method of forming the tip; all of which, being related and mutually cooperating to secure the desired result, are herein claimed. The instrumentalities referredto enable the machine in which they are combined to be driven by mechanical power under the control of an operator, wherefore I have, in order to explain and illustrate the invention, shown in the drawings forming part of this application a power machine containing such instrumentalities, but without intent to limit the invention exclusively to that machine. In said drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine referred to. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4- of Fig. 2, showing the drive shaft and controlling clutch therefor. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are sectional views on a larger scale showing the operating instruments in successive ositions, and illustrating also the steps of the method which are carried out with their aid. Fig. 8 is in part a plan and in part a horizontal section on line 88 of Fig. 5 showing the same parts in the position represented in Fig. 5. Figs. 9, 10, and 11, are vertical cross sectional views on lines 99, 10-10, and 11-11, respectively, of Fig. 7. Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the tip-forming dies in detail. Fig. 13 is a plan view of the blank from which the binder at the lacing tip is made. Fig. let is a cross section on line l t-let of 'Fig. 13.

In the following description the word tip is intended to describe the finished end of the lacing, and includes the cord or webbing and the binding or ferrule thereon; the term binder is applied to the piece which is rolled or wrapped around the end of the lacing and gives the tapered form and firm condition to the finished tip. The machine which I have here shown and am about to describe in detail is one which has been successfully used and is presented as showing an operative embodiment of the principles in which'the invention as hereinafter claimed consists.

16 represents the main frame of the machine which is adapted to be placed upon a bench or table before which the operator stands or sits. On the upper side of the forward part of this frame there is provided a table 17 whereon is placed one of the forming dies 18, such die'18 being secured by a screw 19 and threaded into the table with its shank passing through a slot 20 in the die and its head contained in the recess 21, as shown in Fig. 5, for example. Adjusting screws 22 are threaded through a lip 23 on the front end of the table and engage the die through a block or bar 24, to give exact adj ustment as to position. In rear of the die 21 is a guideway formed by the upper side of the iiaine, two walls 25 rising therefrom and a cover plate 26 secured to said walls by screws 27, and in which is contained a reciprocating slide 23 carrying the complemental forming die 29. This guideway is parallel to the die 18, whereby the die 29 is caused to move over the die 18 and away therefrom in parallel with certain parts of I both dies winch will be presently described.

Preferably the table and guideway are likewise inclined, as shown by Figs. 2 and 3, in order to make it easier for the operator to place the binder blanks and lacing ends between the dies. F or driving the die carrier 28 provide a shaft 31 driven by a belt pulley 32 and carrying an eccentric 33 from which power is delivered to the carrier through an eccentric rod 34 and a strap 35. The pulley loose on the shaft and runs constantly but is adapted to be coupled with l the shaft from time to time by the. operator under the control of a starting and stopping mechanism which is not claimed as a part of .the present invention, but is illustrated in the drawings. Thismechanism includes a clutch stud projecting from the hub of a pulley, a complemental clutch stud 37 carried by a head 33 and being movable endwise in such head, and a lever 39 controlling the advancem nt and retraction of stud 37. The clutch head 38 is pinned or otherwise secured to the shaft so that it can not turn independently, and stud 3'? slides in the head parallel to the sha' t and is pressed toward the pulley by aspring 4:0. This stud has a l1") l1 which bears a ainst a shoulder 42 of the head wnen the stud is pro ected, and the control lever 39. which SWlH S on a stud 43 lies at ltS end close to said snoulder and is pressed by a spring it toward the shaft and 1 against a surface of the head 33 at the base of said shoulder. The end of the lever is beveled to a thin edge or point next to the shoulder 42 and to form a cam surface 45, such cam surface extending from the point to a stop shoulder 1-6, as shown in Fig. 1. When the machine is running and the lever left free, its points enters between the shoulder 42 and the lip all on the stud 37, thereby withdrawing said stud until it is disengaged from the complemental stud 36 and until said lip brings up against the shoulder 4:6.v Then the machine is stopped with the movable die withdrawn. In order to start the machine the operator moves a treadle or other control member, which is connected with lever 39 by a link 47, so as to withdraw the lever from stud 37 and allow the latter to spring out and be engaged with stud 36. Release of the lever 39 allows it to become effective for disconnecting the clutch and stopping the machine. Thus means are provided for working the dies by mechanical power under control of the operator. Referring now to the dies in detail, die 18 has a work support ing part 48, on the upper surface 4-9 of which the work is laid; and such upper surface extends to a concave forming shoulder 50, and adjacent to the shoulder is a surface 51, a step higher than the surface 49. The complemental die 39, on the other hand, has a projection 52 of which the under surface 53 is adapted to overlie the surface 51 in substantial contact therewith, and also has a lower surface 54 adapted to ride over the sur-- face 49 of the die 18; and between these surfaces is a concave forming shoulder 55, opposite and complemental to the shoulder 59. All of these surfaces have elements parallel to the path in which the die 29 moves, but the planes of such surfaces are not all parallel to each other. The surfaces 51 and 53 are in approximately the same plane which is inclined in a direction transverse to the line of movement of the die, while the surfaces 19 and 54; are in the same, or approximately the same, difierent plane which is inclined oppositely to the previously described surfaces. These surfaces and their relative inclinations are clearly shown in Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive. The concaved surfaces of shoulders 50 and 55 are conical and are tapered corresponding-1y to the inclinations of the surfaces 49-51 and 53- 14, respectively. Thereby the dies are enabled to roll a sheet metal binder into the form of a finely tapered cone or conical frustum.

A blank from which is made the lacing tip binder is shown in each of Figs. 5, 6, 8,. 13 and 14. It is made preferably of thin sheet metal, or of other sheet material which is capable of being rolled into tubular form and has sufficient stiffness to retain the form thus given to it. Metals suitable for the purpose are steel, iron, brass, nickel, aluminum; in fact almost any metal which can be worked into a thin sheet; while non-metals having the desired characteristics may also be used. The other characteristics of this blank are that it is trapezoidal in outline, that it is substantially fiat or plane as to the whole area except one longitudinal side edge 57 and the corner between said edge 57 and the base, and that such corner and side edge are bent up from the plane of the major part of the blank sufficiently far to permit entrance beneath the corner of the lower edge of the approaching forming die.

In or near the center line of the blank there are provided a number of burs 58 in order to locate the end of the lacing cord or webbing bet-ween such burs and the upturned edge, and also to indent the webbing when the binder is rolled about it and thus form a secure interlock. These burs may be made in any desired manner. but preferably by puncturing the blank with a prick punch.

At the side of the machine is magazine 59 containing the blanks ready to be used, this magazine being preferably a wide shallow open pan secured to the side of the frame where the machine attendant may reach the blanks with her fingers and slide them one by one over upon the work support. In doing this she manipulates the blank until one edge is brought to bear against the front wall 60 of the magazine, this edge being thereby ap n'oximatoly alined with the shoulder 50 of th die 18, and then she slides the blank across a gage G1 which rises beside the work supporting eznension %8. The bottom 62 of the magazine is at this point approximately flush with the upper edge of the gage, while the work supporting surface is slightly below such edge. The magazine has no confining wall at this point, but provides a clear passage to the space between the dies. In the die 29 there is slot 63 in line with the gage 61 which permits such gage to be extended as high as necessary above the work supporting surface without causing any interference with he moving die.

A holder or confining plate 6% is carried by the movable die 29, being connected to two arms 65, 66 which are pivoted on a pivot pin 67 mounted in the die. The arm (36 is connected to an operating arm '68 which is caused to swing in alternately opposite directions by a stud 69 fixed to the frame and a spring 70 anchored to the frame and attached to the operating arm. When the movable die is retracted, the stud 69 causes the confining plate to be raised, as shown in Fig. 2, but as soon as the movable die conimences to travel and to move the pivot pin away from stud 69, spring TO acts to lower the plate upon the stationary die. This plate then cones close to the extension of the movable die, as shown in Fig. 6, and it is wide enough in the direction of travel of said die to cross the stationary die shoulder 50 and rest on the surface '51. Connected also with the arms 66 and 68 is a third arm '71, which lies beside the dies when the plate is raised, and is provided with a shoulder '72 projecting above the work supporting surface $9 at the side thereof opposite to the gage 61. This shoulder is likewise a gage assisting to position the binder blank and terminating at its rearward side in approximate alinement with the burs 58 whereby to gage the lacing webbing as well.

On the outer sides of the fixed and movable dies are secured crimp plates 73 and 74, respectively, having surfaces which are inclined oppositely to the forming surfaces of the dies and coincide. therewith at their meeting edges, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. These crimp plates are provided for the purpose of contracting the large end of the conical binder, making the base extremity thereof actually smaller in diameter than a part at a short distance from such base, whereby to prevent the occurrence of an abrupt edge or shoulder at the base of the binder such as would be liable to catch on the flange of an eyelet when the lacing is being pulled out therefrom. I would have it understood that the term crimp plates is herein used as a convenient descriptive term only and without intent to indicate any limitation in the nature or form of the elements so designated or the precise nature of the operation performed by them. What this term includes is any parts associated with the dies, whether integral therewith or not and having surfaces of opposite inclination to the main forming surfaces of such dies adapted and arranged to reduce in diameter the base extremity of the tip binder.

in using the machine to form tips upon lacings, the operator first places the binder blank on the work support in the position indicated in Fig. 8, and then places the end of the lacing cord or webbing or upon the blank, being assisted to place it properly by the shoulder 72 and the burs 58, and taking care that in so doing the end of the lacing is not brought up to the end of the blank. in cases where the extremity of the tip is blunt, the webbing may be brought nearly or quite up to the small end of the blank, particularly it it is a light web, but where the tip is to be ely tapered or brought to a very small diameter at the end, or the lacing is a heavy fabric, it is necessary that the webbing be brought only part way to the end of the blank. This may be easily done by an operator standing or sitting in front of the machine and facing it, using her left hand to separate and feed the blanks from the magazine and her right hand to hold the lacings and place their ends one by one upon the blanks. At this time the machine is at rest with the movable die withdrawn to its extreme limit. The operator then starts the machine by pressing upon the treadle or other controller which releases the stopping and starting mechanism, and then the main shaft makes one rotation, advancing and withdrawing the movable die, and stops, provided that the operator has released the starting controller. In the advance of the movable die the confining plate first descends and presses upon the web, confining it so that it neither projects beyond the plane of the surfaces 51 and 53 nor can be displaced across this plane in any of the following movements. This plate holds the webbing in confinement while the movable die passes over the stationary die and over the webbing, making it impossible either for the webbing to be sheared by the point of the die or to be crowded between such point and the surface 51, the webbing being prevented from rolling out of place by the burs on the blank. Then as the movable die continues to advance, its forming shoulder 55 picks up the turned up edge 5'? of the blank and rolls it over the webbing, continuing this rolling action until it reaches the end of its stroke, shown in Fig. 7. At this time the space between the dies is contracted to a conical tunnel exactly conforming to the finished shape and dimensions of the tip.

A new and improved action takes place in the rolling on of the tip binder, which in detail is substantially as follows. l Vhen the binder blank is placed on the support 48, its side edge opposite to the bent up edge 57 is placed against the forming shoulder 50, and this causes the corner between the edge 57 and the base of the blank to be nearer than any other part of the blank to the opposed shoulder of the movable die. Such corner then is the part first engaged by the latter die, and the part of Such die which engages said corner is, in this machine, the conical surface of the crimp plate 7 4. This corner, being bent up from the plane of the blank as already previously described, is raised above the supporting surface far enough to permit the advancing lower edge of the crimp plate to pass under it. Due to the initial bend in the corner referred to, and also to the fact that the pressure of the advancing die is con.- centrated on the projecting corner, while the support of the opposite die shoulder 55 is distributed over many points on the opposite edge, such corner is sharply curled up and bent back and over upon the webbing. In most cases it enters and penetrates the webbing. AS the die 29 continues to advance, a progressively greater extent of its forming shoulder comes to bear on the turned up edge 57, and continues the rolling action toward the tip or smaller extremity of the blank. By the time that the whole length of the shoulder '55 has come to bear on the blank, the corner first engaged has. been rolled through practically a complete revolution. The remaining action of the dies is to complete the rolling of the part first curled up, within the balance of the blank, and to wrap the opposite edge about such part, with crimping of the base of the tip into an oppositely inclined and relatively very short cone. This is a continuous rolling action beginning at one corner and continuing progressively in one operation until such corner and the adjacent edge is entirely'enwrapped within the opposite edge. At the same time the corner curled over is embedded in the webbing and reinforces the effect of the burs 58 in securely locking the tip binder upon the webbing. I wish to emphasize here the distinction which exists between the rolling action just described and the crushing methods of forming tapered tips in two operations, heretofore commercially used. In the prior method the blank is first bent on its longitudinal center line into a trough-like form before the webbing is laid in it, and then first one of the edges of this trough is closed in and finally the opposite edge is bent down upon the first edge, these effects being carried out in two separate operations. The prior method is likewise carried out by a treadle-operated machine in which the dies are moved by the muscular power of the operator in stepping or jumping upon atre'adle. Those methods evidently require severe muscular labor on .the part of the operator and are slow, especially so as two successive operations are required to finish each tip. The present invention, on the other hand, results in the formation and completion of a tip in one operation capable of being carried out automatically by power, whereby the whole action can be accomplished more quickly than either of the partial operation of the old method, and without expenditure of any great muscular energy by the operator.

lVhile the part 48 having the supporting surface 49 is here shown as an integral extension of the die 18, it is functionally a work support which may be made as a separate part, without departure from the essentials of the invention, and it is so claimed. And the overlapping extension 52 of the movable die 29 acts in effect as a continuation of the confining cover 64, wherefrom it follows that such extension may be made as a part of the cover instead of as a part of the die, or in other words, that the cover may be extended rearward to take the place of this extension, within the scope of the protection herein claimed.

I claim protection for such cover in any embodiment and combination with tip forming dies in which it may be used, without limitation to the specific form of the product or the adaptability of the dies to form any one specific product rather than another.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of forming conical tips on lacings which consists in laying a binder blank flat upon a work support having an uncovered exposed supporting surface with one edge beside a forming shoulder, laying a lacing end upon said blank, lowering a confining cover over the blank and lacing and upon said shoulder, and then advancing the complemental forming die over the work support and toward said shoulder, said die having a shoulder opposed to the first-named shoulder and shaped with a concave conical surface.

2. The method of forming conical tips on lacings which consists in laying a substantially fiat binder blank on a work support beside a forming shoulder having a concave conical face, laying the end of a lacing on said blank, and advancing a die over said work support, said die having a conic'ally concave shoulder complemental to the first named shoulder and having also an extension parallel to the direction of said advancing movement which overlies the blank, the lacing, and the first-named shoulder before the blank is engaged by the second-named shoulder.

3. The method of forming conical tip lacings in one operation which consists in laying a substantially flat binder blank, having converging side edges, upon a work support between complemental opposed conical forming shoulders in such a manner that one of such edges is enabled to lie against and substantially coincident with one of said shoulders and the opposite base corner of the blank to project toward the other of said shoulders, laying the end of the lacing on said blank, and effecting a relative movement of approach between said shoulders, whereby the shoulder toward which said corner of the blank projects is caused to engage first the corner and thereafter progressively the adjacent edge of the blank, with progressive curling and rolling action.

4. The method of forming conical tips on lacings which consists in laying a substantially flat binder blank, having converging opposite side edges and having the base corner of one of its edges inclined upward from said support, on a work support with the inclined edge of the blank opposite to said corner beside a conically concave forming shoulder, and then effecting a movement of relative approach between said shoulder and a complemental conical forming shoulder, (said shoulders together forming complement-a1 parts of a conical tunnel), with the blank and the superposed lacing end between them. 7

5. The method of forming conical tips for lacings which consists in laying a substantially fiat trapezoidal blank on an open, uncovered work support, laying the end of a lacing upon said blank across the larger end and extending part way toward the smaller end of the blank, lowering a confining cover over said lacing, and then rolling the binder blank into conical form by relative appreaching movement between two complemental conically concave shoulders or dies, of which the relative movement takes place between the planes of the work support and of said cover.

6, A. machine for tipping lacings comprising complemental dies having parts adapted to overlap and having opposed forming shoulders, one of said dies being movable in a path parallel to said overlapping parts toward and away from the other, and displaceable means for overlying and confining the binder blank and the lacing end lying on the work supporting part of one of said dies prior to the overlapping thereof by the complemental die.

7. A. lace tipping machine comprising a die having aforming shoulder and a sup porting portion beside said shoulder, a complemental die with an opposed forming shoulder movable over said work support and parallel thereto, a cover piece carried by said movable die in advance of said shoulder, means for raising said cover piece when the die is retracted, and means for lowering it upon the shoulder of the first named die when the other die is advanced.

8. In a lace tipping machine the combination with two opposed dies, one of which is movable relatively to the other toward and away from the same, there being a work supporting surface adjacent to one of said dies, which 1s uncovered and exposed when the dies are separated, of acover adapted to be laid over said work supporting surface to confine webbing placed thereon in advance of the forming action of the dies, and mechanism for operating said cover in time with the dies, displacing the cover when the dies are separated and placing it in condition to confine the webbing when the relative approach of the dies is in progress.

9. In a lace tipping machine the combination of a work support on which a binder blank is adapted to be laid, complemental forming dies at opposite sides of said work support, one of said dies being movable toward and away from the otherand when withdrawn leaving uncovered and exposed an area of the work support sufficiently wide to receive a blank deposited on it from above, a. cover mounted movably to overlie and to be displaced from over said space, and mechanism for thus displacing :said cover when the dies are separated and for placing it across said space when the movable die advances.

10. A machine for tipping lacings comprising opposed forming diesone of which is movable toward and away from the other, a work support beside one of said dies having an upper supporting surface which is entirely uncovered and exposed for access from above when the dies are separated, a confining member, and mechanism for operating said member to place it over said work support when the dies are in course of approaching one to the other, and for displacing it when the dies are separated.

11. In a lace tipping machine the combination with stationary and movable complemental forming dies of a cover plate pivoted to one of the dies and overlying the other, a fixed shoulder on the machine engaging an arm associated with said cover plate to raise the cover when the movable die is retracted, said cover being caused to descend over the stationary die when the movable die advances.

12. In a lace tipping machine the combination with stationary and movable complemental forming dies of a cover plate pivoted to one of the dies and overlying the other, a fixed shoulder 011 the machine engaging an arm associated witl said cover plate to raise the cover when the movable die is retracted, said cover being caused to descend over the stationary die when the movable die advances, and an arm associated with said cover provided with a gage shoulder arranged to lie beside the stationary die when the cover is elevated and to be lowered when the cover is lowered.

13. An article of manufacture consisting of: a lacing tip binder blank formed substantially entirely in one plane and having a corner atone edge bent up from said plane, the entire opposite edge being in'the plane of the blank.

ll. A lacing tip binder blank having opposite side edges inclined to one another, and substantially the whole of such blank being in one plane, the corner included between one of said inclined edges and the longer end edge 01" the blank being bent up out of such plane.

15. A blank adapted to form a conical binder or tip for a lacing, having opposite side or longitudinal edges inclined to one another, substantially the entire blank being in one plane, and one of said longitudinal edges being bent up from such plane.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature.

GEORGE Gr. PERKINS. 

